Getting from LAX, LGB, SNA to hotel, LA Cruise Terminal, and back toairport.

Hi all

We are looking at taking a Princess Cruise out of Los Angeles nest
year and are wondering what are options are for getting from the LAX,
LGB, and SNA to a hotel, then to the cruise terminal, and then back to
the airport. Of course we could rent a car, but I am not sure about
driving on the freeways in SoCal. Also could take the shuttle offered
by Princess, but many times they seem to overprice these. Are there
other options? Now really sure where we will be staying, as there are
too many options to sort through. I yet to decide if are flying the
day before or 2 days before. If we flying in the day before we will
most likely try and stay near an airport or cruise terminal. If we fly
in 2 days before we may want to stay near someplace near DisneyLand or
another tourist site. Please reply if you have any suggestions.

Thanks
Michael

> We are looking at taking a Princess Cruise out of Los Angeles nest
> year and are wondering what are options are for getting from the LAX,
> LGB, and SNA to a hotel, then to the cruise terminal, and then back to
> the airport. Of course we could rent a car, but I am not sure about
> driving on the freeways in SoCal. Also could take the shuttle offered
> by Princess, but many times they seem to overprice these. Are there
> other options? Now really sure where we will be staying, as there are
> too many options to sort through. I yet to decide if are flying the
> day before or 2 days before. If we flying in the day before we will
> most likely try and stay near an airport or cruise terminal. If we fly
> in 2 days before we may want to stay near someplace near DisneyLand or
> another tourist site. Please reply if you have any suggestions.

Hi Michael,

If you fly in a couple of days early, which is what we did for our Mex
Riv cruise in April, you may find that renting a car is your best
option. We rented from Enterprise at LAX, did our two days of LA
sightseeing before the cruise, and drove down to San Pedro the morning
of. My husband dropped me, the kids and the bags at the pier, returned
the car to Enterprise, they drove him back (after dropping the drop-off
charge), and we were good to go.

After the cruise, we booked a private van with Super Shuttle for just a
little bit more than a shared ride would have been. They met us right
on time, loaded up the luggage, and drove us back to LAX. We didn't
have to wait for a bus to fill up, and it was less expensive than the
cruise ship transfers.

Perhaps the same arrangements might work for you.

~ Peri

For a Princess cruise out of San Pedro we have flown into LAX and used
Super Shuttle and stayed at the San Pedro Sheraton. Sheraton has shuttle
service to the pier. if you fly into Long Beach you will be close to San
Pedro and can take a cab to the pier. The only hotel I know about is the
old Queen Mary. Of historical interest but not a top rate hotel.

~~DORIS~~
  ________ / /___/ /___/ /_________
 \::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::/
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carnival Legend 9-7-2008
RCCL Grandeur 12-8-2008

> > We are looking at taking a Princess Cruise out of Los Angeles nest
> > year and are wondering what are options are for getting from the LAX,
> > LGB, and SNA to a hotel, then to the cruise terminal, and then back to
> > the airport.

Agree with reply posted by scabbardgirl.

If you fly into or out of Long Beach and stay in Long Beach hotel, local
taxis are all you'll need; and there are sufficient waterfront /
harborfront attractions in Long Beach to make an overnight stay not
unpleasant.

If you fly into or out of LAX, there are numerous major chain hotels
just outside the airport entrance, with free shuttles to the airline
terminal; and while I've not actually done it, I'd be pretty certain you
can get SuperShuttle or other direct "door to door" shuttle service or
direct bus service for the circa one-hour transfer to the Long Beach
cruise termnal, if not directly from one of these hotels, then just by
taking the hotel shuttle back to the LAX terminal and picking one up
from there.

> We are looking at taking a Princess Cruise out of Los Angeles nest
> year and are wondering what are options are for getting from the LAX,
> LGB, and SNA to a hotel, then to the cruise terminal, and then back to
> the airport. Of course we could rent a car, but I am not sure about
> driving on the freeways in SoCal. Also could take the shuttle offered
> by Princess, but many times they seem to overprice these. Are there
> other options? Now really sure where we will be staying, as there are
> too many options to sort through. I yet to decide if are flying the
> day before or 2 days before. If we flying in the day before we will
> most likely try and stay near an airport or cruise terminal. If we fly
> in 2 days before we may want to stay near someplace near DisneyLand or
> another tourist site. Please reply if you have any suggestions.
>
> Thanks
> Michael


Long Beach is a very small airport with few flights and airlines. If
you can book a good flight into Long Beach sure. But LAX is probably
your best option. There are many shuttle options from any of these
airports. Just follow the shuttles sign as you exit the terminal.

> We are looking at taking a Princess Cruise out of Los Angeles nest
> year and are wondering what are options are for getting from the LAX,
> LGB, and SNA to a hotel, then to the cruise terminal, and then back to
> the airport. Of course we could rent a car, but I am not sure about
> driving on the freeways in SoCal. Also could take the shuttle offered
> by Princess, but many times they seem to overprice these. Are there
> other options? Now really sure where we will be staying, as there are
> too many options to sort through. I yet to decide if are flying the
> day before or 2 days before. If we flying in the day before we will
> most likely try and stay near an airport or cruise terminal. If we fly
> in 2 days before we may want to stay near someplace near DisneyLand or
> another tourist site. Please reply if you have any suggestions.

Don't let the LA freeways intimidate you.The freeways move along at a
regular pace and are clearly marked. Southern Californians are pretty
friendly, too. There are lots of sights to add on to your trip in LA,
such as Disneyland, Catalina Island, Universal, etc.

I vote renting a car and taking advantage of your stop in LA area.

Karen

> Some of the responses you have received in this reference already provided
> some good advice, one even mentioning the Queen Mary attraction and hotel,
> yet wisely pointing out the historical interest, but also not a top rate
> hotel. Therefore, there is no point in me adding to this dialogue, even
> though I live around 15 to 20 miles away from Long Beach/San Pedro and the
> cruise ship ports.

Queen Mary is really fun, though. The walls are thin, though. I could
hear the guy next door talking in a normal voice, everything he said.
The rooms are decorated in the vintage style, including the plumbing.
The haunted ship tour was fun for my daughter who got really scared.
The pool was creepy!

Karen

>>Some of the responses you have received in this reference already provided
>>some good advice, one even mentioning the Queen Mary attraction and hotel,
>>yet wisely pointing out the historical interest, but also not a top rate
>>hotel. Therefore, there is no point in me adding to this dialogue, even
>>though I live around 15 to 20 miles away from Long Beach/San Pedro and the
>>cruise ship ports.

> Queen Mary is really fun, though. The walls are thin, though. I could
> hear the guy next door talking in a normal voice, everything he said.
> The rooms are decorated in the vintage style, including the plumbing.
> The haunted ship tour was fun for my daughter who got really scared.
> The pool was creepy!
>
> Karen

Dear Karen,
Having spent some time aboard the Queen Mary
I can not recommend it for a place to sleep before
a cruise, except perhaps if you want to realize
just how much cruising has improved! (;+)=
Los Angeles Freeways are only really
exciting when (1) you have to get somewhere and
you are running late or (2) it is between 3:30
p.m. and 7:00 p.m. and you are in a hurry. The
routes are all well marked, and provided you have
a rental car that you can drop at or near the pier
a rental car is definitely the way to go. Super
Shuttle is also good, but make sure you have a
reservation and consider a dedicated van, unless
you like riding around and around airports trying
to find someone else going approximately in the
same direction.
I'd strongly suggest coming in at least a
full day early. Better if you can afford to arrive
two days early. That way, you and your luggage
stand a very good chance of making the ship
together. It's not funny cruising without your
luggage, and Southern California has lots of
things for a family to do, and some of them are
not expen$ive. I would suggest you get a hotel
away from LAX - they think their rooms are really,
really $pecial.
You will have a great trip, take lots of
pictures, and have lots of good memories.
Cheers,
John in LALALand (On the Left Coast)

> While Long Beach Airport (LGB) is indeed smaller that Los Angeles
> International (LAX), Santa Ana Airport (SNA) is smaller yet. However, SNA is
> closer to attractions such as Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm, but much
> further away from the Port of Los Angeles (San Pedro) for your Princess
> Cruise.
>
> Some of the responses you have received in this reference already provided
> some good advice, one even mentioning the Queen Mary attraction and hotel,
> yet wisely pointing out the historical interest, but also not a top rate
> hotel. Therefore, there is no point in me adding to this dialogue, even
> though I live around 15 to 20 miles away from Long Beach/San Pedro and the
> cruise ship ports.
>
> However, one other thing to consider, is to look on their Website or the
> Princess Cruise brochure itself to see what hotel packages they recommend
> for a cruise out of San Pedro.

The Princess brochure lists the hotel in Los Angeles at the Marriott
Los Angels. Anyone have any thought good or bad about this hotel.

Thanks
Michael

> > While Long Beach Airport (LGB) is indeed smaller that Los Angeles
> > International (LAX), Santa Ana Airport (SNA) is smaller yet. However, SNA is
> > closer to attractions such as Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm, but much
> > further away from the Port of Los Angeles (San Pedro) for your Princess
> > Cruise.
>
> > Some of the responses you have received in this reference already provided
> > some good advice, one even mentioning the Queen Mary attraction and hotel,
> > yet wisely pointing out the historical interest, but also not a top rate
> > hotel. Therefore, there is no point in me adding to this dialogue, even
> > though I live around 15 to 20 miles away from Long Beach/San Pedro and the
> > cruise ship ports.
>
> > However, one other thing to consider, is to look on their Website or the
> > Princess Cruise brochure itself to see what hotel packages they recommend
> > for a cruise out of San Pedro.
>
> The Princess brochure lists the hotel in Los Angeles at the Marriott
> Los Angels. Anyone have any thought good or bad about this hotel.
>
> Thanks
> Michael-

which Marriott? If it's the one at the LAX airport, it's a
conventional and travelers' hotel. Nothing bad about it, just your
regular big chain hotels. There is not much within walking distance
to the hotel.